About This Dev Diary
Every Thursday, I share some of what we’ve been working on – the challenges, solutions, and ideas that caught my attention. This is my unfiltered dev journal, so my thoughts and plans may change quickly, and nothing here is set in stone. And if you don’t like spoilers, don’t read further!
Newsletter
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Space Engineers 1
Since our Warfare 3 reveal, we’ve received a lot of questions, many along the same lines: How will all of this actually work?
Arron sat down with Space Engineers Lead Designer Ryan Keel to pick his brain – this week, we’re talking Missiles vs. Torpedoes, Ammo Switching, and Targeting Subsystems.
All of this and more is coming in the free game update, and you can wishlist the Warfare 3 Pack on Steam right now!
Jump Seat (3xL, 1xS)
Fold it down and strap in. This compact passenger seat is perfect for dropships, tight interiors, and utility craft.
Artillery Turret Type II (1x L)
Give your warship some serious presence with an artillery turret built for heavy engagements and distant targets.
Warfare 3 is one of the most significant combat updates we have ever made for Space Engineers.
Can’t wait? Wishlist the Warfare 3 Pack on Steam now!
And follow us for more detailed reveals every week as we take a closer look at what’s coming.
Space Engineers 2
Character Animations
I’ve been quite involved in the character animation work lately – I have always liked this area because small changes in movement can completely change how a character feels.
We are improving locomotion, transitions between actions, and the consistency between first-person and third-person animations. We are also adding more variation so characters do not feel too synchronized or mechanical. NPCs can combine different animations across parts of the body, with small timing differences that help groups feel more natural.
I keep coming back to weight and continuity. Firing a weapon, using a tool, moving with the jetpack, getting hit – these should feel like actions performed by one physical character, not separate animations stitched together. There is still plenty to tune here, but this is definitely one of the areas I enjoy watching evolve.
Pipe Set
We’re also working on a new pipe set for Space Engineers 2. I want these pieces to give you more options for making interiors, maintenance spaces, and machinery feel properly engineered instead of leaving every wall and ceiling clean and empty.
The 25 cm unified grid really helps here. You can route pipes around other blocks, build tighter technical spaces, and combine them with the rest of your construction in ways that would have been much harder before. I already like how much character a few pipes can add to an otherwise simple corridor.
Question to you: Have you wishlisted the Warfare 3 Pack yet?
Share your thoughts in the comments below – I read them all, and they’re one of my favorite parts of making our games.
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Would it make sense to make the pipes work as conveyors? Or do you have another purpose in mind (Water/Gas logistics)?
I fond se2 to be so square!…i read pipes and got pretty excited, but they are sauare blocks too😔, can we have some non square options? i dont care if they have attachment points on every side! we need more curves in this game
Was thinking the same. Would be great to have some free-floating pipes and an reinforced block that connects them to the structure.
Maybe even just adding some longer pipe blocks to these would expose the pipes more, like a 1x2x1 or 1x3x1. Break up the shapes so they’re not just increments of 1?
* then I looked at the images again and saw there already are 1x2x1 blocks… DOH!
Great progress! I really like the warfare update but i prefer SE2, i hope you will recicle the assets
Will there be any UI/UX improvements and QoL features along the Warfare 3 update?
I haven’t wishlisted WF3 pack, and probably won’t. I’ll buy it when it comes, as I do with every DLC but don’t feel like I need to wishlist.. And besides, this isn’t a DLC for me, it’s for the PVP people. I don’t really care about anything in the pack, same as WF 1-2.
Warfare 3 is amazing, honestly im pretty firmly into SE2 by this point, but i will not be able to resist going back and playing with these new systems, and it gives me extreme optimism for thr future of SE2 combat (i will personally give you all my money for lasers, even just as a cosmetic turret/ammo variant). My only slight disappointing thing is that the barrels of that beautiful turret don’t have a slight recoiling animation upon firing. I will hope this can be done in SE2 eventually though. Also, those pipes being imprisoned in that square scaffolding completely defeats the purpse of adding in blocks to break up visual monotony, #freethepipe. Honestly i have never looked down on any scene that has been put together by the dev team as a block showcase, they always do amazing work, but those random stacks of “pipe blocks” look UGLY, simply removing the scaffolding or adding a non scaffold version would be ideal